


Perfect Summer Day

by SparkyFrootloops



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, Yokai!Natsume, natsumess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22028782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkyFrootloops/pseuds/SparkyFrootloops
Summary: Natsu is a yokai living in the forest, making summer in the niche of woods he calls home. On this fine summer day, a lovely couple visits to enjoy the weather with him.
Relationships: Fujiwara Shigeru & Natsume Takashi, Fujiwara Touko & Natsume Takashi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 127





	Perfect Summer Day

**Author's Note:**

> Natsu: Summer
> 
> Part of a gift exchange for @floweryfandomnerd on tumblr

Natsu loved the forest that he called home. He never grew tired of making the leaves rustle with a warm summer breeze, or making the world glisten and glow with a gentle rain, or any of the other magical sights that his season brought to any who lived in his forest. His favorite thing about summer had to be the visitors, though. The other seasons tended to be too cold to allow for any of the humans from the nearby village to venture so deep into the forest as to come across the lake near his home, but with the heat hanging heavy in the air, the natural coolness offered by the fresh water was like a sirens call. 

Natsu had worked hard to bring the temperature up up  _ up _ enough to make it ideal for a swim. Even so, he knew better than to expect the humans right away. Usually it was more of an accident that people would stumble into his clearing, lost on a trip to exciting places that Natsu had never been; like the  _ gro-sherri _ place, or even someplace that had the same name as a group of fish. Natsu wondered if the children would swim in these  _ schools _ as the fish did in theirs. 

“You’re just asking for trouble, inviting humans here like this year after year.”

Natsu smiled, recognizing the voice immediately. He whirled around, delighted to see the large white yokai giving him a stink eye. “Sensei! You’re back!”

The large yokai made a humphing sound, blowing dust into the air with the force of it and making the smaller yokai sneeze, “You’re ignoring my words.”

“Not ignoring,” Natsu said, somewhat sheepish. “Just… holding off on listening to them. Just for a moment.”

Sensei rolled his eyes, “I don’t know why I bother with you, brat. Decade after decade and all you cause me is trouble.”

Natsu held out a hand and summoned a paper bag. He’d kept it safe, frozen in time just as he kept the seedlings during winter so that they could grow fresh in the spring. “I guess if I’m nothing but trouble, you don’t want what I have here?”

Sensei’s attention looked as if it was trained elsewhere, but Natsu could see an eye move carefully to track his movements. Natsu put a hand into the bag, pretending to fish around before pulling out manju, heating it up in his hand until it steamed and the scent wafted through the air. If a warm breeze helped to carry the enticing aroma over to the grumpy yokai, was it really Natsu’s fault?

Natsu slowly approached the steam bun with his sharp teeth, stopping at the last moment when Sensei shifted into a smaller form and leaped into the air to snatch the treat right out of Natsu’s hand. Natsu laughed as the lucky cat munched happily on the dessert, grumbling all the while about how it didn’t mean anything. Natsu bowed deeply, more to hide his triumphant grin than anything. “Of course, Sensei.”

Natsu sat down by the bank of the lake, content to watch the birds play in the air above, diving and chasing their friends around on the breeze. Sensei found his way into his lap, and Natsu wrapped his arms around the still grumbling lucky cat. 

Years ago, Natsu had run away into the forest and become lost in the twisting trails. He couldn't remember what it was exactly that he'd run from, just that his life before had been lonely and had hurt both his body and heart. Even now, there were still scars on Natsu's arms that he didn't dwell on too deeply. That was his old life, one that was best left in the past. Now Natsu's days were filled with warmth and he had Sensei to keep him company, as he had ever since Sensei had found him all those years ago.

"Oh my, what a lovely lake this is." 

Natsu looked up in time to see a woman holding a picnic blanket coming into the clearing. She looked around at the scenery with admiration and excitement, already scouting for a spot to set down her blanket when her eyes landed on Natsu. "You're here to enjoy the summer too, huh?"

If Natsu hadn't been so shocked at being seen, he might have thought it funny that he -the embodiment of summer- was being asked if he was enjoying the season. Caught off guard as he was, he could only point to himself in confusion. How long had it been since a human had seen him with no effort on his part? He was strong, had been strong even before Sensei found him according to his friends, so it wasn't difficult to be seen by mortals, but it was still a conscious effort.

The woman smiled warmly. She was laughing, but Natsu felt no cruelty from it like in the foggy memories that sometimes came back to him in the late, starry nights. "Yes, you, silly. Oh I bet you came out here to be alone, didn't you? I'm sorry, we're intruding aren't we?"

"Oh no!" Natsu scrambled to stand, in a rush to assure this kind woman that she could stay. "Please, you're very welcome here." He blinked, the full implications of her words settling over him, "Wait, we?"

As if summoned by his question, a man in glasses came out of the trees carrying a picnic basket to go with the woman's blanket. He startled a little in surprise, then gestured to his basket. “I see you made a friend, Touko. Does he want to join us for our picnic?”

Natsu began to protest, but the cat in his arms leaped out and began to bounce around the man’s ankles. Sensei shot him a look as if to say ‘don’t blow this opportunity for free food’ before resuming his earlier eager bouncing. Natsu watched as Touko spread the blanket, patting a section that she’d just smoothed down in an inviting gesture.

“I guess I could stay a little while…” Natsu sat at the edge of the blanket, corralling his wayward sensei when he tried to snatch some of the food that the man was setting up on plates around them. “Sensei, you just ate.”

The man chuckled, fishing around in his basket until he found some fish he’d packed. “I don’t suppose if I gave him some of this fish, he’d be satisfied.”

Sensei mewled, reaching his paws towards the fish and squirming until Natsu let him go to where the man set aside some of the fish for him. 

“My name’s Shigeru, and this is my wife Touko.” Shigeru extended a hand and shook Natsu’s. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Natsu replied. He wasn’t used to conversations like this. His conversation partners mostly consisted of the chukyuu or Sensei or any of the other yokai that lived in his forest; small talk wasn’t his forte. Should he have given his name? Would the couple have found it odd that he was named Summer? Fortunately for him, Shigeru and Touko took the lack of an offered name in stride, and they were great at keeping up the conversation.

“That’s a nice cat you have there, healthy looking.” Shigeru praised, “You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat their pets.”

Natsu nearly choked on the onigiri he’d taken a bite out of, and he didn’t miss the look of indignation that Sensei had sent his way. There wasn’t anything he could do about it, though. These humans thought that  _ he _ was human too. If he shattered the illusion now… He didn’t want them to leave just yet. 

“Oh, yes. Sensei is… my cat.” Natsu had to take a sip of water to hide the grin spreading across his face at the annoyed look from Sensei. “He’s a bit spoiled, but I love having him with me. It can get lonely out here sometimes.”

“You spend a lot of time out here in the forest?” Touko asked, interest clear in her features. “I bet it’s a lot of fun to play here, and the weather is wonderful on days like today. Perfect for boys like you to get into mischief.”

Natsu flushed at the praise that Touko didn’t even realize she was giving. He worked hard to make the weather as good as it was today. He couldn’t do it every day, nature demanded balance of course, but he enjoyed when he could show off his skills at creating the  _ perfect _ summer day.

“I understand being lonely, though,” Touko continued, grabbing Natsu’s attention once more. “There’s some nice boys that are around your age that live in the town with us, where do you live? Maybe we could introduce you- Oh I’m friends with their mothers, and they would just  _ love _ to meet you.”

Touko told Natsu a little about the boys she knew, and he absorbed the information eagerly. He would never be able to meet them, of course. Not unless they came here to the forest, but Natsu enjoyed the thought of meeting them just the same. 

They talked for hours, long after the food had gone and even into another meal, this one caught by Shigeru and Natsu who fished in the lake until they could eat the catch on the fire they made. They talked about how Touko and Shigeru didn’t have children, but they always thought their big house could have room for a young boy just like Natsu. Natsu smiled, indulging in the  _ what if _ fantasy of growing up in a house with these kind strangers as his parents. Two people that had just met him, but already they seemed to like him and want to stay with him. It was more than he could remember his previous human caretakers doing. 

Before long, the sun was beginning to set, and Natsu and Sensei shared a look. It was time for the couple to leave. Touko and Shigeru were laughing at a story that one of them just told, gently teasing one another as they pack up the blanket and place it in the now mostly empty picnic basket. Natsu helped to place the last of the dishes safely inside, caressing the side of the basket as a way to prolong the inevitable. Finally, he could prolong it no longer.

Natsu stood, holding Sensei in his arms as he bowed deeply to the couple he’d spent the day with. “It was very nice to meet you both. I hope you had a nice Summer day.”

And with that, the wind blew and the couple blinked, a little confused. They wouldn’t be able to see Natsu, not now that he was concealing himself. They wouldn’t remember him, either; a trick he’d learned from a yokai that had traveled through his forest once. Touko and Shigeru would be left with the memory of a perfect summer day, and Natsu would hold the true memory for himself. It was better this way, better to let this couple go on living without worrying about the boy they’d met once in the forest. Better so that they wouldn’t return and return until they noticed that the boy never aged. Better so they wouldn’t fear the world of yokai that they could never see and could never be a part of. 

Natsu watched as they left, clutching Sensei close as the summer breeze blew around him in a comforting embrace. 

“Come on, Sensei. I think tomorrow should have a nice summer rain, don’t you?”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it! Leave your thoughts?


End file.
